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WorldView-Legion 1, ..., 6
WorldView-Legion [DigitalGlobe]
MDA's daughter company DigitalGlobe announced in early 2017 to build a next generation constellation of earth observation satellites called WorldView-Legion to supercede the aging WorldView 1 and WorldView 2 satellites.
The satellites in this constellation shall be able to revisit some locations on Earth up to 40 times in a day.
The satellites will be built by SS/Loral, another daughter company of MDA, which will result in significant savings. The imager is built by Raytheon.
Six spacecraft of the WorldView-Legion constellation are planned to be on orbit in 2020/21 timeframe in a mix of sun-synchronous and mid-latitude orbits. Digital Globe may chose to build a further satellite as a back-up.
The initial constellation is to be orbited in 2021 on two Falcon-9 v1.2 (Block 5) rockets, with two satellites going to polar orbits and four to 45° orbits. Later this was changed to three launches of each two satellites.
| Nation: | USA |
|---|---|
| Type / Application: | Earth observation |
| Operator: | DigitalGlobe → Maxar |
| Contractors: | Maxar Technologies (formerly Space Systems/Loral (SS/L)) (prime); Raytheon (imager) |
| Equipment: | |
| Configuration: | |
| Propulsion: | ? |
| Power: | Solar arrays, batteries |
| Lifetime: | |
| Mass: | |
| Orbit: |
| Satellite | COSPAR | Date | LS | Launch Vehicle | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WorldView-Legion 1 | - | 2023 | Va SLC-4E | Falcon-9 v1.2 (Block 5) | with WorldView-Legion 2 | |
| WorldView-Legion 2 | - | 2023 | Va SLC-4E | Falcon-9 v1.2 (Block 5) | with WorldView-Legion 1 | |
| WorldView-Legion 3 | - | 2023 | CC | Falcon-9 v1.2 (Block 5) | with WorldView-Legion 4 | |
| WorldView-Legion 4 | - | 2023 | CC | Falcon-9 v1.2 (Block 5) | with WorldView-Legion 3 | |
| WorldView-Legion 5 | - | 2023 | CC | Falcon-9 v1.2 (Block 5) | with WorldView-Legion 6 | |
| WorldView-Legion 6 | - | 2023 | CC | Falcon-9 v1.2 (Block 5) | with WorldView-Legion 5 |
References:
- SpaceNews: In buying DigitalGlobe, MDA ensures SSL will build just-disclosed WorldView-Legion constellation, 24 February 2017
- DigitalGlobe: DigitalGlobe Satellite and Product Overview, JACIE Workshop – September 2017
